MNN - Mother Nature Network

BUENOS AIRES — Around 340 people were injured, some of them seriously, on Feb. 22 when a train derailed and struck a railway station platform in Buenos Aires, transport and health officials said.

 

Around a dozen ambulances were sent to the accident in the west of the Argentine capital to treat those hurt, said Alberto Crescenti, a senior city official.

 

Transportation Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi gave the toll and said many of the passengers were badly injured, including some with multiple fractures and abrasions, adding that "there could be fatalities" among the casualties.

 

He added that there were an unknown number of commuters still trapped in the wreckage of the train.

 

"The train was full and the impact was tremendous," a passenger identified only as Ezequiel told local television, stating that medics at the scene were overwhelmed.

 

Local television pictures showed a trapped train driver and several people being carried away from the scene on stretchers.

 

The accident occurred just five months after another major transit incident rocked the Argentine capital, during a morning rush hour crash involving two trains and a bus.

 

That accident in September killed 11 people including the bus driver and injured more 200.

 

The region's transit system has been plagued with serious accidents in recent years.

 

In March 2008, 18 people were killed and 47 injured when a bus was hit by a train in Dolores, 212 kilometers (132 miles) south of Buenos Aires.

 

Argentina's deadliest train tragedy was in 1970, an accident that killed 200 people in northern Buenos Aires.

 

Copyright 2012  AFP Global Edition